1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an outboard motor, and particularly, to an outboard motor which comprises a radio communication apparatus capable of transmitting data such as an operational condition of the outboard motor and the like to the outside.
2. Description of the Related Art
For a vehicle such as an automobile, it is known to monitor an operational condition of the vehicle at a location away from the vehicle. For example, there is described in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-315272 a vehicle which has a fault diagnosis device mounted thereon with a transmitter so as to transmit a diagnosis result to a base station. A vehicle with a transmitter mounted thereon transmits data to a base station by utilizing a radio-receiving antenna or a dedicated antenna that is jutted out from the vehicle.
For an outboard motor used for a boat, since it operates for a long time under severe conditions, it should be considered that information for appropriate maintenance is transmitted to a maintenance facility. For a small board, that is, a boat which utilizes an outboard motor, since the outboard motor is prepared independent of a boat and is attached to the boat hull, antennas and the like for transmission/reception are positioned at a location near the steering position, for example, in a cabin.
If a communication apparatus is mounted in an outboard motor itself, since the outboard motor is away from antennas and the like in a cabin, there occur many problems such as laborsome cable wiring, necessity to take measures against noise due to long cable wiring and the like. Particularly, since the outboard motor is used in combination with various kinds of hulls, they are required to be separately handled in view of the differences of cable wiring, routing, or the like, which results in expense of much time.
In addition, a rear portion of the boat is susceptible not only to vibrations of the outboard motor, but also to impact of the boat beaten by waves. Therefore, when a radio communication apparatus is mounted on an outboard motor positioned at the rear portion of the boat, due consideration must be given to these vibration and impact. Further, since the outboard motor is relatively small, it is not easy to obtain therein a space for the radio communication apparatus, the antenna, and the controller such as a CPU to be connected thereto.